Labour’s upcoming Leadership Election

So, much to the Conservative Party’s eternal happiness, the Labour Party will be stuck in a leadership election until late September. Despite already knowing the result, the right of the Labour party seems determined to eviscerate all hopes of electing a Labour Government. It has always puzzled me, the Blairite plan for the Labour Party is to move the party to the centre/centre-right to make it more “electable”. Outside the Blairite fantasy-land, the political reality is that the Liberal Democrats in the centre ground got decimated at the last general election, and any move to the centre-right competes with the Conservative Party, the most successful, efficient and morally bankrupt political party this country has ever seen. So it’s important that those who support Labour, from young students to old revolutionaries, engage with the upcoming Labour Leadership.

The ruling to exclude Labour Members and affiliated members who joined less than six months ago is absolutely disgusting and arguably illegal. Charging those excluded members and other labour supporters £25 is the complete opposite to what the Labour Party stands for. Contrary to Angela Eagle’s opinion that it’s a “pretty good investment for the whole future of democracy”, it’s really a tax on democracy that will force some people to make a decision between buying food that week and voting for Corbyn. If you decide to pay the £25 you can sign up as a registered supporter from 5pm on Monday 18 July to 5pm on Wednesday 20 July.

The leadership election will be done through postal and electronic voting ballots using AV as the electoral system. Ballots will be sent out on the 22nd of August and must be returned by the 21st of September with the results being announced on 24th of September. For the full leadership election guidelines and timetable click on the link here.

Ultimately the Labour party will be making a choice, the repercussions of which will echo throughout the party’s future. Labour party members must decide if they want a progressive socialist Labour Party or a Blairite Labour Party. Make your decision wisely, some are not fortunate enough to make such an “investment” in the Labour Party’s future.

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I am a nineteen-year-old freelance journalist and politics student who started this website.

One Response to “Labour’s upcoming Leadership Election”

Beth Soanes17th July 2016

I’m getting concerned with labour members and supporters alike who are happy to taint and slander every MP that isn’t Corbyn and claim they are doing it with the best interests of labour at heart. Saying that Owen Smith is frankly no better than Tony Blair is a fallacy and a huge overstatement – which completely ignored his progressive voting record and lack of direct involvement in the coup. The fact is, Jeremy Corbyn is failing to engage with the majority of the electorate. Pretty much every Trade union believes he is incapable of winning an election, he is failing to engage with the working classes and he is significantly lower in the polls than Ed Miliband was at this stage in the leadership; who lost his general election. This is concerning considering the polls usually overestimate labours popularity. What does that say for Corbyn? On top of this, he is failing to demonstrate any clear policy or plan, much as Miliband did, and therefore losing already to the Tory Party. People supporting Corbyn are often working hard to maintain unity within the party, but others have pushed the secretary of my young labour group into resigning because he has been told he is not allowed to remain secretary so long as he publicly criticises Corbyn, the ‘official’ position of our CLP. He is not allowed to keep his position so long as he voices his opinion – is that so democratic? Finally the electability argument is crucial when discussing the leadership as it is paramount that the Tory’s are removed from government. Branding every MP who isn’t Corbyn as a right wing blairite is more damaging to the party than anything else. If Corbyn remains, I fear for the future of the Labour Party and left wing politics in the UK. As much as I wish the leadership challenged occurred much much later than it has after using our time to act against the Torys, we’re here. And labour members now have to consider what they believe to be the best decision for the party and the people. I do not believe that is Corbyn. That is of course my opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own. As much as this blog post is articulate and considered, I can’t help but disagree with it fundamentally, and I think it is important to voice the other side of the argument